At least 155,000 people have lost their lives in East Africa and South Asia in the aftermath of the earthquake and resulting tsunamis on December 26. Thousands of people in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and Indonesia are still missing; many others have lost their homes and livelihoods. Sri Lanka and Indonesia suffered the highest number of deaths, but India, East Africa, Seychelles, Maldives, and Thailand were all affected by the tsunami waves, which reached as high as 20 feet. Aid workers and volunteers are focused on stopping the spread of disease and delivering food and drinking water to survivors. We would like to encourage all our visitors to make a donation to help the relief efforts in the affected countries. Please donate as much as you can, as quickly as you can. If large amounts of aid do not reach the affected areas soon the number of fatalities could become even more appalling through the spread of disease. The UN estimates that billions of dollars will be needed and it would seem that our governments can so far only bring themselves to donate small numbers of millions. Many charities and aid organizations are now operating a donation scheme, and donations can be made easily, quickly and securely over the web. For more information, please visit the following links: Action Against Hunger American Red Cross American Red Cross (Via Amazon) American Jewish World Service BAPS Care International CARE Direct Relief International GOAL Habitat For Humanity International International Federation Of Red Cross & Red Crescent Islamic World Relief Karuna Trust Network For Good Oxfam International Oxfam US Sarvodaya Save The Children UNICEF World Food Programme (UN) Our sincerest thanks for anything and everything you can do to help those in need. -Alien Soup Staff
